When Twitter announced the arrival of the audio tweets, some feared that the user experience would change negatively, thus losing the original idea of being a “microblogging” network. After several weeks and very little use we can say that it has not happened, but they have served to see that something is wrong within Twitter: accessibility. And beware, because audio tweets can be really useful.
Twitter and its accessibility
Twitter had long experimented with the use of audio messages as a new form of communication within its platform. A feature that many feared would arrive officially at some point and that was finally the case, on June 17 this new option was launched.
So far, the basis of communication on Twitter has always been text . Hence, it is considered as a microblogging platform. Because messages were initially limited to 140 characters and later increased to 280 characters. But if you wanted to give free rein to your imagination and publish something more extensive, you would have to resort to more messages, thus creating the well-known threads.
You can Tweet a Tweet. But now you can Tweet your voice!
Rolling out today on iOS, you can now record and Tweet with audio. pic.twitter.com/jezRmh1dkD
– Twitter (@Twitter) June 17, 2020
However, the company had planned to add audio messages and that set off alarms for some users, would it end up becoming the chaos that many WhatsApp conversations and groups are?
Well, for now it doesn’t seem to have happened. It is true that the ability to send audio messages is only available for iOS users , it will be necessary to see when it is released for Android, but there is not an excess of messages on the timeline of most.
What it has uncovered is the need for Twitter to have a specialized accessibility device. Something that the company itself, as it recently told The Verge , has recognized that it does not have and that it is its workers who voluntarily implement improvements. But it’s not enough.
In the absence of an independent device, workers must first cover their obligations and then deal with accessibility issues. This creates details that can be overlooked. However, a fixed device does not and could address problems before they even exist. For example, the one related to audio tweets. A very useful feature, but one that could also cause discrimination.
The real usefulness of audio tweets
Before looking at the current problem with audio tweets , let’s see what their real usefulness is. Because even being able to see it as a fad, as a function introduced because the rest of the platforms and applications are doing it, similar to what happened with the stories format that we saw originally on Snapchat, we have it on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and even Discover It seems that it will implement its own adaptation, the truth is that they can be something key for users with disabilities.
For most users, an audio message does not imply anything. What’s more, even if they have the option to use them, they won’t do it because they don’t feel comfortable or add value. However, for others with motor disabilities, tweeting using your voice may be most comfortable.
It is true that there are voice recognition systems that allow people with motor disabilities to transcribe what they say, but if you implement the option to tweet audio directly, you can save time and money.
Therefore, this Twitter function is useful and goes beyond that you can send both an audio or text to tell the same thing. Some users will offer the possibility of using Twitter much more, being able to share ideas, opinions or the classic “What’s happening”. So yes, the great utility is to allow more users to use Twitter if they want to.
The big problem of audio on Twitter
Likewise, when these functions are added, it must also be taken into account that they do not generate discrimination or harm to other users. The audio messages, as they are right now, would do it as Andrew Hayward, a deaf journalist, already pointed out, since they did not have subtitles . In other words, you may be giving a new use option to people with motor problems, but you cannot simultaneously make those with hearing problems not be able to access its content.
Here it would be nice if Twitter added the possibility of generating subtitles automatically in the same way that YouTube, Facebook and other current video platforms do. The problem is that this requires processing time and Twitter is a network where messages usually have an expiration date. What’s more, they soon forget because it is not the place to return to read practically nothing twice.
So, let’s see how the company solves it. At the moment they have said they are working on it. Meanwhile, we hope that now you see these messages with different eyes thanks to putting yourself in the shoes of other people for whom something that is not important to them is the opposite.